Rotation-rate sensors are known from the related art and are able to determine the rotation rates of a rotary motion. A rotation-rate sensor, which is discussed in publication WO 03064975 A1, for example, that has two oscillatory mass elements (a two-mass system). Such rotation-rate sensors typically have oscillatory masses (partial oscillators) that are driven to an antiparallel mode. If a rotation rate is present, the Coriolis force excites an antiparallel detection oscillation which is measured capacitively and converted by an evaluation electronics into a rotation rate. Under the related art, a partial oscillator is constituted of a drive oscillator and a Coriolis oscillator. The drive oscillator participates only in the drive motion and not in the detection oscillation. The Coriolis element participates both in the drive oscillation and in the detection oscillation. In useful relevant applications, sensors or parts thereof are subject to forces other than the Coriolis force, in particular, inertia forces produced by linear accelerations and by angular accelerations, that can likewise induce a signal, respectively that can corrupt the signal associated with the Coriolis force. When these forces occur, this leads disadvantageously to spurious signals during operation because an angular acceleration, for instance, in the form of a rotational oscillation about the sensitive axis, for example, leads directly to a rotation-rate signal. In particular, if the rotational oscillation occurs at the frequency used to drive the rotation-rate sensor and in phase with a Coriolis force, the result is a significant susceptibility to interference. Furthermore, a linear acceleration along the detection direction also leads to an unwanted deflection of the partial oscillator.
Rotation-rate sensors are also known where a plurality of two-mass systems are connected by springs to permit detection of rotation rates in more than one direction. The increased complexity of the sensor design required for that purpose makes the rotation-rate sensor more prone to interference modes and, therefore, impedes the process of correlating the measured capacitances with the rotation rates.